Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge (review)

With the exception of D-Day and the subsequent expansion of the Normandy beachhead, surely few Western European land battles of World War II have been more closely scrutinized than the December 1944 Battle of the Bulge. In Panzers in Winter, the author offers an account of this classic confrontation from the German point of view.

The book's organization is fairly routine. Beginning with a description of the overall preoffensive military situation, it proceeds through German operational planning and preparation, the opening day of the attack, followed by more detailed descriptions of subsequent actions on the Northern (6th Panzer Army), Central (5th Panzer Army), and Southern (7th Army) sectors. The book concludes with chapters on the 2nd Panzer Division's final lunge towards the Meuse River, the halting/destruction of these drives, and the German Army's ultimate retreat back to its initial 16 December line of departure. The last chapter consists of brief capsule biographies of the leading German commanders, highlighting their military assignments and actions through the remaining final months of the war, and thereafter.

One is initially struck by the book's relative shortness—only 170 pages, excluding the table of contents, preface, end notes, bibliography, index, etc. While the font is fairly small, this still leaves the writer with the monumental task of dealing effectively with a battle as large and complex as the one in question. The author's approach is to focus upon only the most critical engagements, with obvious emphasis upon the actions encompassing Elsenborn Ridge, Kampfgruppen Peiper, the Schnee Eifel, St. Vith, and Bastogne, providing just enough information on Allied military units to give perspective to the German Army operations. The supporting maps are primarily of a sketch format, with sufficient geographic and unit identification information to clearly denote combat positions and movements.

The book is a fast read. However, the author, especially in the opening chapters, repeatedly breaks the narrative flow, with detailed, overly lengthy biographies of various German unit commanders. Considering the limited amount of print space available, does one really need to know where a general/field marshal attended officer-cadet school; and could this not better be included in the end notes, which already largely consist of such biographical information? Concurrently, excessive initial coverage is dedicated to such topics as the prewar impact of the Treaty of Versailles upon Germany, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the earliest days of the war, including the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa, complete with a map (p. 6) depicting the 1941 encirclement battles, as well as two pages (pp 11–12) listing the names and units of various Waffen-SS sergeants, captains, majors, etc., killed in Normandy. While interesting, this does not significantly contribute to a greater understanding of the dire, overall immediate military situation confronting the German Army in the early Winter of 1944.

Nevertheless, once into those chapters pertaining to the actual battle itself, the book flows in a relatively quick, smooth manner, and the reader is treated in rapid succession to the details and outcomes of major engagements. Throughout, with respect to specific combat actions, the author concurrently inserts pertinent information as to the impact of logistical shortages, weather, traffic congestion and/or Allied air superiority upon the German Army's ability to achieve its immediate objectives.

While Panzers in Winter will not necessarily provide those already possessing a fairly extensive knowledge of the battle with any new insights into its inherent military operations, the author still imparts interesting perspectives as to the influence of conflicting personalities. For example, fans of LTG Fritz Bayerlein (Cdr, Pz Lehr Div), will be exposed to the more critical, negative viewpoints of his senior commanders, as to the impact of his actions/inactions upon the manner of the battle's progress, especially during the first week. On the other hand...